


S.P.O.T.

by WritLarge



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Dum-E - Freeform, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-02
Updated: 2014-03-02
Packaged: 2018-01-14 08:10:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1259179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritLarge/pseuds/WritLarge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dum-E inherits a pet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	S.P.O.T.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written as part of a writing exercise involving pets, into which Tony Stark decided to insert himself.

Spot had emerged from a semi-dazed-not-quite-exhausted tinkering session one afternoon when Tony had been avoiding his parents and listening to Doctor Who radio serials (dire threats had been made should any angry guitar riffs escape upstairs into his father’s office).

At first, all he’d wanted was a little alarm clock thingy. Something that would break him out of his work zen before someone came down to the workshop with stern looks and pointing fingers. The cobbled together bot ran on a rechargeable battery and couldn’t really go anywhere, even though Tony had charitably fashioned it four wee stubby legs. The best it could do was topple itself over.

“Hey, you’re playing dead.” Tony teased as the bot’s waggling stubs froze up.

By the end of the week, Spot had been programmed to monitor the temperature of his coffee, warn him if he’d been working to long without a break (based on a statistical analysis of how long it would take for one of his parents to come down and harass him) and wake him if he’d fallen asleep and not woken for more than 4 hours (by listening to his breathing patterns) – responding to all instances with a chirp of varying intensity. Spot would also “play dead” whenever Tony cursed.

It was cute. 

Spot shut down entirely, becoming an ugly metal paperweight, whenever someone else was in the workshop. Not that anyone ever noticed. The bot’s entire existence was being played out on Tony’s main desk, except for one eventful trip off the side. Tony had caught Spot though, so the existence of the floor had yet to be incorporated into its understanding of the world.

As far as Tony was concerned, Spot was useful, even if it was pretty limited. The more he stared at Spot, the more he thought about what else he might be able to program a bot to do. Pretty soon, thoughts became ideas, and ideas became plans, and plans.... as the prototypes that would eventually become Dum-E took shape, Spot was left behind by the whirlwind of Progress.

It was years later, after an especially emphatic lecture from Pepper involving threats and promises, and promises of threats, that Tony had rediscovered Spot while sorting through storage containers from his old workshop.

“Huh.” The little bot had long since run out of power and, while likely still more advanced than your average smart phone, was quickly filed in the “obsolete and not-worth-my-time” category. Tony tossed it back into one of the boxes. A disheartened whine caused him to turn back.

Dum-E held Spot up in his claw, turning it with a curious air.

“That’s Spot.” Tony clarified. “It’s like an alarm clock, kinda. But better. It’s not particularly smart or anything, but… I don’t know. Like a hamster maybe? Here.”

Tony took the bot from Dum-E and scrabbled around until he found a compatible charger. “It’ll take a bit to charge up.”

Dum-E sat and waited patiently. Tony went back to sorting the Box of Crap and didn’t notice the light on the charger switch over to green until Dum-E’s polite poking progressed into a shove that knocked Tony onto the floor.

“Yes, fine, all right! Christ…” He ran his hand through his hair and stood, setting Spot up on the desk; shoving a stack of papers off the side and disconnecting the cable. Dum-E focused intently on the little bot. “Demanding little fucker today, aren’t you?” 

Spot toppled over, waggled its legs in futility and then froze. Dum-E waved his arm in delight. 

Tony snorted, “Forgot about that. You like it- him, do you?” Tony gave Dum-E an affectionate pat. “Spot can monitor sounds mostly, and time. You can have him if you want. The programming is really outdated though.” He said, reaching over to pick up Spot. “Maybe…”

Dum-E snatched the bot up and pulled it in close.

“Okay, okay.” He held up his hands in defeat, having long since learned that it was far more fun to indulge Dum-E’s quirks than try and tame his programming. “Spot’s all yours. I won’t do any upgrades, just let me retrain him a bit.” 

Tony was able to coax Spot away from Dum-E, though the A.I. was plainly watching everything he did to the little bot with suspicion. After a minute of tinkering, he placed Spot back on the table. 

“He’s all yours.” Dum-E gave an excited squeal and Spot toppled over. The new pet was scooped up and wheeled over to U and Butterfingers with as much glee as a one armed robot could radiate. 

“Sir?’ JARVIS diverted Tony’s attention from his pseudo-children.

“Yeah?”

“May I inquire as to the origin of Spot’s name, as he does not, in fact, appear to have any spots?”

“Oh. Umm… well. Spot. S.P.O.T. Ah! S.P.T. : Superior Pet Technology.” Dum-E squealed again and Tony cringed when he heard the resultant thump as the little bot discovered the floor.

“Hmmm, maybe Sufficiently Petlike Oddball Toy suits him better?” 

“Perhaps so, sir.”


End file.
